Journal

Jane Ingram Allen

Jane Ingram Allen

Sitka Spruce Forest

This installation uses materials collected during my residency at Sitka Center from October 16, 2013 to Jan. 10, 2014. I made the paper from Sitka Spruce bark collected on the ground around the trees. The Sitka Spruce paper is dark brown and shrinks as it dries giving a 3-dimensional shape. The lighter tan color is like the moss on the trees, and that paper is made from Sitka Sedge leaves growing in the Salmon River Estuary. I used cattail leaves to make the paper for the inner bark of these trees. I pressed a piece of Sitka Spruce bark into the wet pulp to give a bark-like texture. Natural jute twine joins the segments of the handmade paper trees.

Jane Ingram Allen creates sculpture installations using handmade paper and other natural materials collected in a particular time and place. She is originally from Alabama and now lives in California. She spent 8 years in Taiwan after receiving a Fulbright grant in 2004 and 2005. She has been an artist in residence in the USA, Philippines, Nepal, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Tanzania. http://www.janeingramallen.com http://janeingramallen.wordpress.com